


10 ways of flirting

by letitmclennon



Category: The Beatles
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Double Drabble, Drabble Collection, Flirting, Holding Hands, M/M, Platonic Romance, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-05-26 16:07:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6246652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letitmclennon/pseuds/letitmclennon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>10 ways of flirting, a collection of drabble and double drabble about John and Paul.<br/>1. Holding hands<br/>2. Grabbing the arm<br/>3. Entwined fingers<br/>4. Hugging<br/>5. Embracing<br/>6. Holding from behind<br/>7. Lifting up - Princess style<br/>8. Carrying on back<br/>9. Hiding the face in<br/>10. Touching foreheads</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Holding hands

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone.  
> This is the first chapter of a collection of 10 flirting moments about John and Paul.  
> I found the list on tumblr, in particular thanks to the wonderful blog of fionafu! And I think, ok I can't draw, but maybe I can write something about. And this is the result.  
> I'm Italian and the first writing was in my language. And then I think to translate. So, sorry if I made any mistakes.  
> Hope you enjoy it!

“Let’s see how you get by with this.”  
A challenging smile.  
“Ok, but keep up with me, Lennon, you think you can do it?”  
Another smile. Indignant.  
“Sure, this is bullshit… what’s your name? McCartney? Clearly, you don’t know how flawless my performances are.”  
“You won’t making me anxious, I’m very good in this field too.”  
“Oh yeah? And do you think you’re holding that…thing properly?”  
A hand reaches out, lingers a second more.  
A shiver passes through him.  
What is it?  
“It’s different for lefties.”  
He stammers, as he knows that something important is going on.  
“So, come on, Macca. Oh, by the way, can I call you Macca?”  
And Paul does really want to play along.  
“Sure, Lennon.”


	2. Grabbing the arm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with chapter 2.  
> Again, sorry if there are some mistakes. I haven't an english beta-reader.  
> Hope you enjoy.

“How do you do it?”  
“Do what?”  
“When a bird isn’t game and you make her change her mind.”  
Paul giggles naughty and John knows he hates him. It isn’t tolerable that John Lennon himself has to ask Paul – Snotty – McCartney for advice. But desperate times call desperate measures…  
“It’s a matter of cleverness.”  
“I am clever, thank you.”  
“Not enough, it seems. But your good old Paulie here will be glad to share with you some of his tricks.”  
John pricks up his ears, while Paul gets close to him on the bed.  
“If she turns to go away from you, you give her your best lustful gaze and grab her arm gently. In this way.”  
John’s eyes spread out when Paul’s hand squeezes his arm, strongly, yes, but also gently.  
“Really?”  
He swallows loudly under the lustful gaze of Paul.  
What is happening?  
“Sure. And then you move closer and whisper to her, ‘Nice knowing you, Johnny’.”  
Paul’s whisper brush against his ear, catching his breath.  
Funny how John seems now one of the birds charmed by Paul.  
But it can’t be.  
He is a bloke. He is John Lennon!  
“And you’ll see how she will surrender. What do you think?”  
But John smiles, giving up to this strange feeling because…  
“I think…Nice knowing you too, Paulie.”


	3. Entwined fingers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with chapter 3.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Thank you to all of those who have read this fic and please, sorry for my awkward english. :)

Paul sighs when John surrenders again. That chord really doesn’t work.  
“You’re hopeless.”  
“Please, Paul, help me.”  
“If I remember well you were the one that didn’t want any help from a snotty kid like me.”  
“That was before knowing that you were such a fucking guitar’s genius.”  
Paul laughs, sitting to his left side, “Don’t exaggerate, you already convinced me with your ‘Please, Paul’.”  
John pleading with him is a rare thing, but also extremely efficient: he always manages to get what he wants.  
Amazing how his voice can result mocking and begging at the same time. Paul will never understand how he can do it. He just knows that he can’t resist him, since he met John.  
“There. Put your fingers here.”  
His hand places John’s properly on the fingerboard; it guides it like a puppet.  
“Maybe you mean here?”  
John laughs amused and careless, his fingers entwine with Paul’s.  
Softly?, Paul thinks, holding his breath. He wouldn’t want it, because this is just a joke for John, isn’t it?  
Still, he can’t help it!  
“Cut it out, John. Could you please be serious sometime?”  
As always, even if it’s Paul to run the show, in the end John wins.  
“Relax, I was only joking.”  
Paul blushes, because of shame.  
Yes, it’s only a joke. A game.  
But it’s a game that scares him.


	4. Hugging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 is online.  
> So, again, I'm sorry if there are any mistakes.  
> If someone can help me, as an english betareader, I'll be very very grateful. :)

Another fucking boring party.  
The situation begins to become unbelievably tedious. All parties are the same.  
How about that?  
John laughs, leaving the room. He immediately looks for a fag in his pocket.  
He takes it to his lips, noticing a well-known figure with his bloody short-sighted eyes.  
Paul, among the snow, wrapped up in his winter coat. He has a fag between his lips too and he’s trying to lit it up with shaky hands.  
Without a second thought, John steps closer, wraps an arm around his neck and draws him vigorously to his body.  
“What the-?”  
“I desperately need a lighter, Paul, you know, I forgot mine in Cyn’s bag and honestly, I suspect she wouldn’t approve what I’m doing.”  
Paul snorts, yet he doesn’t seem mad while John is keeping him close to his body to light his fag.  
“And you couldn’t ask it nicely, could you?”  
John smiles to himself. No, Paul doesn’t seem mad at all and in the same time he hadn’t done the least effort to free himself from his hug.  
“And lose your reaction? You joking, Paul?”  
And John knows that’s not a good thing, not at all. But…  
“It’s so funny!”


	5. Embracing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5, Embracing.   
> So, in Italian there isn't a difference for the act of hugging. I had to search what's the difference between hugging and embracing. If I understood correctly, hugging is more formal than embracing, which is more loving. Is that correct?  
> Sorry for any mistakes you will find. It's very very difficult to translate from Italian to English.

He feels like crap...  
He threw up everything in the loo. Fortunately it’s a very clean loo. After all they’re staying in the most luxurious hotel in Key West.  
Stuck for a fucking tornado in the fucking Florida.  
Paul comes back to the bedroom, stumbling. He falls with a thud next to John, who is sprawling on the floor with his back to the bed. His eyes are closed, maybe is he sleeping?   
Paul doesn’t know. Up until short time ago John was mocking him because he was such a princess to throw up just for a couple of shots.   
Indeed, nobody can win against John’s virility.   
He felt dizzy, his head seems an endless vortex. Sure, what with all their drinks, their laughs, their crying and the not-very-much reliable love declarations. Paul needs to hold on to something not to lose his balance.   
He rest his head on John’s shoulder, wrapping his arms round him.   
“Please, in future stop me from drinking too much.”   
John laughs and embraces him with an arm on his waist.  
Damn, Paul feels so fucking good between John’s arms that hurts.   
“Only if you’ll do the same.”  
It bloody hurts.  
“Still, I don’t know how much I can trust you, Paulie.”  
“Why’s that?”  
John looks at him with the corner of his eye, pinching his ass. Paul jolts.  
“A princess should never get pissed.”


	6. Holding from behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter six, in which we have John and Paul and the lovely button of the latter, saying, "If no one claims me in 30 days I'm yours."  
> I really love Paul wearing that button in 1968, and I couldn't resist to try and write something about it.

“Got you!”  
Paul jumps when two arms wrap him from behind, trapping him in a cage which is, despite all his attempts to convince himself of the contrary, the place Paul feels to belong to.  
“What are you doing, John?”  
“I’m claiming you.”  
His whisper is so soft, but John perfectly knows how to make Paul shiver between his arms.  
“What?”  
“Isn’t it what your button is saying? _‘If no one claims me in 30 days I’m yours_ ’. Well, I’m claiming you.”  
Paul laughs, while John is pointing the button on his friend’s shirt. It reports the same words quoted by John.  
“You can’t claim me.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because one claims something that they lost, and you didn’t lose me.”  
“Yes, but…”  
Paul ignores his protest, turning to the other side. John can’t lose Paul. It won’t never happen. However Paul is almost sure that he will be the one to lose John. And this is the most atrocious pain he has ever suffered until now.  
“You know, you could always try again in 30 days.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, that’s the dead line.”  
Paul smiles and touches the tip of John’s wonderful nose, before loosening himself from the hug.  
“If you’re lucky, I’ll be yours.”  
And then he sends a cheeky wink to John, but Paul knows that he won’t be lucky.  
Neither of them will be.


	7. Lifting up - Princess style

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7, Lifting up - Princess style

“It was good, wasn’t it, Paulie?”  
They have just finished to perform on a worldwide show. It scared them all, but now it seems just a picnic.  
“We could do better. I suppose we should settle for it.”  
“Same old fussy pain in the ass.”  
Paul looks at him with an annoyed sneer. Still, John thinks he’s irresistible. As always.  
“A very cute pain in the ass. That flower suits you.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, it was very Paul McCharmly’s style.”  
“That fucking nickname again?”  
“Don’t you like it? I think it’s appropriate for a charming princess like you.”  
“McCharmly reminds of a prince, rather than a princess.”  
Paul shakes his head in an excessively effeminate way.  
Oh, he is a fucking princess! And he knows perfectly by himself.  
“Let me check.”  
Paul blinks, while John is getting closer to him with a threatening grin.  
“What do-?”  
He can’t express a single question because, without giving him the chance to protest, John lifts him with an arm under his legs and the other one around his shoulder.  
“JOHN!”  
“Hey, you know what? You were right.”  
John makes him jump between his arms.  
“Put me down. Now!”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
With his feet on the ground, Paul tries to compose himself, ignoring the redness on his cheeks and the slightly heavy breath.  
“Are you gone mad?”  
“I had to check, and you’re right. You are not a princess.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because princesses aren’t so fucking heavy.”


	8. Carrying on back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8, Carrying on back.  
> Hope you enjoy it :)

John never refuses a good acid trip, especially if Paul is there, ready to catch him before he falls.  
“Can you manage, John?”  
“Mm?”  
“Going upstairs to your room?”  
John rests himself on his friend, “No.”  
He whispers on his neck, smiling when goose bumps appear right there.  
“Then you’ll sleep on the sofa.”  
“Mm, Paul…”  
He wraps his arms around his neck, begging him to carry him upstairs.  
“If I hadn’t seen you taking that bloody acid, I’d leave you freezing on the floor.”  
John rubs his nose in the same sensitive spot on Paul’s neck.   
“Please.”  
“Oh, fuck you, John, you’re a bloody opportunist.”  
Paul takes him on his back, surprised by the fact that John is so thin, more than Paul could imagine. He’d want to talk to him about that, maybe ask him if he’s alright, but he can’t do it now.   
He just wants to take him to bed and sleep.  
John’s room is so dark and Paul moves shaky, until he stumbles and the two of them fall on the bed.   
John laughs, “Paul, you’re a clod.”  
“And you’re ingrate.”  
He tries to get up, but John holds him there.  
“Stay.”  
“What?”  
“Sleep here.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I want you to.”, John holds him tightly, yawning, “Will you?”  
Paul thinks about, cupping John’s hands with his owns.   
“I will.”  
John doesn’t listen his answer, though, because he is already fast asleep.  
“I want all that you want.”


	9. Hiding the face in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter. Hiding the face in, a little bit angst.

It can’t be true.  
How on earth does John want to leave the Beatles?  
How on earth does he want to leave Paul?  
Impossible.  
John keeps talking bullshit.  
Paul keeps thinking to kiss him.  
It’s now or never.  
Just to shut him down, not for other reasons.  
And obviously not because…  
“I have to do it, Paul.”  
_I should kiss you, so you’ll finish saying this bullshit._  
“I can’t go on.”  
_I can, though, and now I can also kiss you, if you want._  
“I want a divorce.”  
_I just want to kiss you so badly._  
Paul wants the courage to do it, too, but he hasn’t it.  
He can just sigh, come closer and hide his face in John’s neck.  
He smells of aftershave and thousands of shared memories, that help him to find the right words.  
“Please, don’t leave me.”


	10. Touching foreheads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Touching foreheads.

“Don’t you get bored, John?”  
“Doing what?”  
“Being all time alone at home.”  
John turns to look at him with a smile.  
“Why should I?”  
“Because you don’t do this for a living anymore.”  
Paul puts all the passion he’s feeling, when he places his hand on John’s fingers, which are moving expertly on the keyboard of the white piano.  
“I don’t understand, John. How can you live without this?”  
“You learn.”  
“This was your life, before, I mean.”  
“Life changes you, Paul.”  
“Many things change. How can you stand being here alone all the day? You would have hated it once.”  
“Well, but I’m not alone right now, am I?”  
John’s fingers entwine with Paul’s, drawing him a little bit on the bench.  
Paul feels his heart skip a beat. For some strange reason.  
“John, I’m serious.”  
However John looks at him with a smile that has the amazing power to make Paul happy.  
Despite his heart is running wild.  
Despite his legs seem suddenly weak.  
Despite anything.  
“Me too, Paul.”  
John leans forward and Paul blushes, and since he can’t hold anymore, he returns John’s grip.  
“After all, I have all I need.”  
“What is it, John?”  
John smiles and bends over him, ignoring Paul’s babbling.  
Paul is going to die, now, he is sure about it. In his life he has never been surer about something like in this very moment, with John’s face too much near his own.  
He’s going to die on John’s fucking white piano.  
Maybe by a heartache.  
Maybe by surprise, if now John is going to…  
But… would it be a surprise?  
After all those years of smiles, looks, hidden caresses…  
Would it really be a surprise?  
However, at the last moment, John stops and lets their foreheads touch.  
Paul thinks he has been pardoned.  
“It’s you, Paul.”  
Maybe not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read the fanfiction, who left kudos and comments. I really appreciate.  
> I'm sorry if there were mistakes. As I said before, English is not my first language, and I'm translating my stories to improve my English. :)  
> I think I'm going to translate another one, with a higher rating for some hot scenes. ;)  
> Thank you again, and see you soon.  
> letitmclennon


End file.
